For the first 9 ½ years of her life, Kaiya Castellanos spent most of her time doing what girls her age typically do. She went to school with her cousins and friends. She enjoyed art and writing poetry. She played soccer, basketball, and volleyball. Kaiya spent most of her time outdoors being active on her bike, pogo and rip stick. She loved to go hiking and fishing with her dad, mom, and older brother. Kaiya was also very loving, helping her mom and dad to welcome several foster children into their home. Other than doing a few chores around the house, Kaiya was living a carefree life.

On March 6, 2017 Kaiya was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. When Type T1D strikes children, it is unrelated to diet and lifestyle. It requires constant carbohydrate counting and blood-glucose testing, and a lifelong dependence on injected insulin. Insulin is not a cure, and it does not prevent against the possibility of serious complications such as kidney failure, blindness, and stroke.

Kaiya is still the same fun loving active girl, but now testing her blood-glucose 6-8 times a day and receiving 4-5 insulin injections a day. By the time Kaiya reaches the age of 68, she will have endured over 198,560 finger pokes for blood-glucose testing and suffered through over 99,280 insulin injections.

Donations will help the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation continue to bring life-changing therapies to the T1D community until they can find a cure for this serious autoimmune disease.